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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Do affairs work?

379 replies

JodyD1973 · 11/10/2021 11:32

Hi I’m having an affair with a married man. I’m 48 separated 3 years ago and we’ve been seeing each other for 10 months. I have fallen in love with this man, he tells me he loves me, adores me and can see our future together. He tells me his marriage has been unhappy for years and has left twice before but always went back which he says he regrets.
We both have an overwhelming guilt at what we are doing, we’ve had arguments, cried about it and I’ve walked away 4 times but we hate not speaking to each other. We get on so well, we chat about everything, our kids, our work is similar so we understand the pressures and we have fun. He has a work incident right now and states once it’s resolved he will leave her.
But do affairs work out ever? I lay awake at night wondering what’s to come, will we ever work, will we be happy? My friends worry as I don’t go out in case there is a chance of seeing him. It’s all a bit of a mess and wonder if I should walk away for good but fear it will take me a long time to get over him.

OP posts:
Meezer2 · 11/10/2021 22:23

So I don't understand your situation.
You got cheated on and know the pain that caused you?
Now you're doing it to another woman?

Buggritbuggrit · 11/10/2021 22:25
  • I don’t know how I fell into this.
  • I never thought I’d find mystery in this situation.
  • Yes I do have empathy as I was the woman that got cheated on.
  • I’m 100% responsible for making the choice to walk away.

So, stop whining and walk away. You didn’t ‘fall into’ anything. You have agency, as you have acknowledged. You’re doing an awful thing with another person, who is also doing an awful thing. Stop. You can dramatise it as much as you like, but it really is that simple. Stop.

Worldwide2 · 11/10/2021 22:27

Walk away he will always have a million excuses why not to leave 'right now'.
I know someone who was having an affair with a married man for TEN YEARS. He told her the marriage was dead just housemates waiting for the kids to get bigger and then he would leave. She found out his wife was pregnant and then she finally realised he was lying to her all along. She lost 10 frigging years on the twat. His wife never found out I don't think. But my point is you have already lost nearly a year of your life on him don't waste anymore time.

Chucklecheeks01 · 11/10/2021 22:32

You have empathy... but not enough to get past your own selfish wants at this time.

At least own what you are.. selfish

You know how the wife/children will feel if this gets out. The total devastation, but your needs come first.

DrSbaitso · 11/10/2021 22:34

@Chucklecheeks01

You have empathy... but not enough to get past your own selfish wants at this time.

At least own what you are.. selfish

You know how the wife/children will feel if this gets out. The total devastation, but your needs come first.

Well presumably the husband and father knows too. And tbh, even if OP does walk, this is unlikely to be his last time.
poppy101010 · 11/10/2021 22:35

@JodyD1973 I might be unpopular amongst other users but here goes .... yes affairs can work out.

Not my story but happened to a very close family member - the wife was cheating on her husband of 5 years. He was a horrible person , constantly slagging her off and would never lift a finger in the house. Was controlling with money and had no interest in having kids. She had health issues and lost lots of confidence before she met him , so I reckon she "settled" for someone thinking she might be alone forever otherwise. She met a lovely man at work who was divorced and had a child but keen to have more in the future . He adored her and she changed into a happy and confident person. This was an affair to begin with ... she was terrified to leave husband due to financial commitments etc but she did eventually and she now has a family of her own with a man she loves.

Why not give your man a bit of a nudge and if he doesn't walk away from wife by the time the work situation hasn't resolved itself then maybe think more about leaving for good . Otherwise it will continue the way it is forever.

I wish you luck. 🍀🤞🏻

MumofSpud · 11/10/2021 22:35

You have DC - I feel sorry for them.

MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 11/10/2021 22:40

Oh no, there's a 'work incident' preventing him from leaving his wife for you

PMSL as if

montysma1 · 11/10/2021 22:49

If you had enormous guilt you wouldn't be doing it.

You didnt fall into it, you walked into it.
There was a point if choice at the beginning when you weren't "in love" 🙄, where you had the chance to say Fuck this, I won't be that bitch.
But you didn't.

Onthedunes · 11/10/2021 23:04

@DrSbaitso

I don't think any woman is suprised why a woman would find her husband sexually attractive, I think it's a question of moral repulsiveness.

In the same way we think of the op as morally repulsive and wouldn't actively want to befriend someone like that, so we believe other women would be repulsed by the lack of morals within a man and find that a turn off.

Just as when women are faced with the decision whether or not to remain with a cheater and forgive, I doubt they do not actually find their betrayer sexually unnatractive anymore, more that their lack of moral fibre and loss of repect towards them makes them too repulsive to touch.

Respect is hugely important within the act of sex for many women, I think men can detatch from those feelings far easier and we don't understand women who don't find that important.

In a way affairs are a huge gamble with your reputation, people get to know, such as the op, her friends know they will talk/gossip, her neighbours will know, sneaking him in during the day on god knows what pretence if anyone sees him.

People notice, people talk, now there is a game to be won, not just over the wife but in public, can she get the man?

This will show the ow how much she is wanted or not wanted, it becomes so much more than just a love affair, it is one upmanship, it is obliterating the opposition, it is about power, ego and self esteem.

Some women do not feel the need to destroy others in their lives, they respect the sanctity of marriage and the family and the thought of a man hurtling towards them that is willing to throw and discard a life and family behind them, to most women would be repulsive.

God no, the thought of it.
No man is worth that.
Children are far more important.
Other women are important and I could have never hurt another woman in this way.
Never.

me4real · 12/10/2021 00:46

@JodyD1973 I used to be like you. Probably worse. I had a lot of 'relationships' with men who were married or spoken-for. Usually I was in love.

Then my last one made me realize what most of them are like- sex obsessed liars and sleazeballs. Even if one of them was't that bad, his actions still weren't good.

Then I joined Mumsnet and read so many stories of women devastated by their husband's betrayal. I developed empathy for those women in a way I didn't have before. I mean empathy that means that I will never, ever do that again, because it's wrong. You can say you have empathy, but talk, or thoughts, are cheap. You have to show that empathy, that consideration for women through your actions, and not fuck them over without genuinely giving much of a shit about them (if you did, you wouldn't be doing it.)

We all have our faults. Keep reading the boards. Learn about and feel a little of the victim's pain through their own words.

Snugglybuggly · 12/10/2021 01:00

Worked for me..

myheartskippedabeat · 12/10/2021 01:08

@JodyD1973

Thanks for your opinion as I opened myself up for criticism but pathetic and embarrassing I am not… I didn’t ask to fall into this situation but you don’t know me so what you’ve said is rude
Sleeping with someone else's husband could be regarded and is, in many peoples opinion rude and embarrassing because you are living a lie
fourminutestosavetheworld · 12/10/2021 02:28

"Why would he be? He's not doing it to them."

I would find a person abhorrent for demonstrating their ability to lie, cheat, betray someone they once loved enough to marry and so on. They are not character traits I value in a person at all, quite the opposite, regardless of any sexual attraction.

TreasuredMim · 12/10/2021 04:06

You have DC? Where do they fit in to this? Are you missing out on their childhoods? Are they missing out on having a parent who engages with and notices them because you're glued to your phone and have your head full of thoughts of him?

Tiredofbs123 · 12/10/2021 06:55

IME the behaving like teenagers, weeping, wailing at how they’ve been struck by the ‘arrow of love’ and just can’t help what has happened to them is pretty typical of cheating couples. Makes them both feel better about what is an absolutely devastating set of deliberate choices. It’s total cognitive dissonance. If you think it’s beyond your control because it’s ‘love’ then you can hold onto the narrative you’re a good person at heart.

It is pathetic and embarrassing.

DrSbaitso · 12/10/2021 07:20

so we believe other women would be repulsed by the lack of morals within a man and find that a turn off.

That equates to not finding him attractive. Like I said, you're expecting the moral element to shut off the sexual feeling.

But nobody expects a man's sexual feeling to be shut off by a woman's equivalent "lack of morals".

If shaming women, and only women, for their desires worked, there would have been no affairs for thousands of years. It isn't working, so try something else. How about holding a married man 100% responsible for his actions alone?

Worldwide2 · 12/10/2021 07:33

@snugglybuggly well come on then let's hear it. You cant just leave it there.

DrSbaitso · 12/10/2021 07:36

@fourminutestosavetheworld

"Why would he be? He's not doing it to them."

I would find a person abhorrent for demonstrating their ability to lie, cheat, betray someone they once loved enough to marry and so on. They are not character traits I value in a person at all, quite the opposite, regardless of any sexual attraction.

Yes, we have established that a lot of women believe that the moral element of a cheating man should be an instant turn off for women because morality is supposed to be part of female sexuality.

We've also established that it frequently isn't true, which is probably why people get so frantic about asserting it. It's not true of me. I wouldn't sleep with a married man, but it wouldn't be because his being married automatically shut off whatever I found attractive about him.

DFOD · 12/10/2021 08:20

” I didn’t ask to fall into this situation”

What does this actually mean - that you have no agency in your own life? That it was some sort of accident where you tripped up and landed on his cock?

Be accountable for your decisions and actions.

arethereanyleftatall · 12/10/2021 08:43

I don't think the man in this situation would ever ever leave of his own volition. Never. He would have already done so.
So, it will be his wife who makes the decision, and her alone.
When/if she kicks him out; He, and others in the same position, will make out it was his choice, but it won't be.
His choice is always going to be to have his cake and eat it.

Tototipple · 12/10/2021 08:58

Tripped and landed on his cock 😂😂😂😂 love this

Seriously OP you’re getting a (justifiably) hard time. And you aren’t stupid, you know the impact of what you’re doing.

Can it work? Yes - I know a few people where it has worked in that they are now married or engaged to their affair partner. Are they happy? Never completely. They are having to live with the unease that causing hurt to innocent people has caused. People’s opinions of them have changed, they’ve lost some friends (usually the decent ones who don’t want people with shitty morals in their lives) and the respect of many family members. They have to live for the rest of their LIVES with children who have been deeply hurt. Who may spend time with them but the parent-child relationship has been damaged (and the affair partner is never seen in a good light by the children).

Is this what you really want? I know I’d run a mile, even with ‘feelings’ involved.

A wise person made me work out 5 words that encompassed my key values/ important things in life, and said one of the biggest causes of depression or stress is living a life where you don’t have these at the heart. That we make choices daily over where we put our attention and energy. And to make good choices.

Sounds simple. It’s not. But it’s made me upend what I do and it’s making my life much better.

Being calm and happy was one of these values for me. What you are doing is creating drama and a life more difficult for yourself (ignoring the impact on others). And if it did ‘work out’ you’d still have a mess to navigate for the rest of your life and a daily reminder of poor choices. From a purely selfish point of view I’d make active choices to not be in his company, in order to preserve my own future mental health.

Oh and in all of the ones I’ve known that worked, once the dust has settled, and the drama and ‘romance’ of it all has passed, they still end up finding that the partner isn’t the dream soul mate they thought. I know one where they haven’t walked as they are determined to save face.

JodyD1973 · 12/10/2021 08:59

[quote Worldwide2]@snugglybuggly well come on then let's hear it. You cant just leave it there.[/quote]
What is it you want to hear that I’ve been totally slated for falling for a man that initially thought wasn’t going anywhere. And rightly so at some of the comments were accurate some just a bit shitty. I found out on our 4th date that he was married. I’ve been ripped to pieces for my wrong use of wording such as “fall in” and situation. So I’m done. All I know is I am
Leaving it here. It will end. I’m just not to share it on here…. I got my clarity

OP posts:
vivainsomnia · 12/10/2021 09:15

What is this work incident that he needs to deal with? Most importantly, how long is it expected to last?

Personally, I would give a deadline. If he really means what he says and is fully committed to going, he will go ahead and take the plunge.

If he comes up with excuses, half taken steps, one step forward, two back etc... you are just wasting your time.

DrSbaitso · 12/10/2021 09:21

To be honest, if you do find that someone being married automatically kills your desire stone dead, then it's not really very impressive that you don't sleep with them. It's easy not to have an affair with someone who doesn't attract you!

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